Mr. Jenkins

In eighth grade I had Mr. Jenkins for science. He was one of the most attractive men I'd ever seen, tall and muscular. He always wore his shirt sleeves rolled up and his arms were covered with hair. The man also had an *** on him you could serve breakfast on. He was quite liberal in his use of the paddle and a week never went by when he didn't "invite" at least one boy out into the hallway. I went to school in Texas. Very few boys I knew weren't paddled at least once. Most teachers sent students to the vice principal for a paddling, but Mr. Jenkins took care of it himself. This was actually better for the kids involved, because if the vice-principal paddled you, your parents were notified and that meant most kids could expect a good spanking at home that night. We appreciated Mr. Jenkins' "benevolence," but it was also pretty obvious he liked paddling boys' butts. We even joked about it. But we all respected him. He kept the paddle in his desk. I don't remember exactly how long or thick it was, but it was enough to strike fear into all of us. The first time Mr. Jenkins paddled a kid it was just a single lick, intended as a warning. But if he had to ask you out again, the number of licks would double, 1, 2, 4, 8, and then twelve, which was the maximum allowed.

I had never provoked a teacher into paddling me before. Normally, I didn't need to. "Insolent" was the word most often used to describe me. (I spent a fair amount of time in the vice-principal's office in junior high.) But I had to find out what a lick from this man felt like. So one day I mouthed off at him and the next thing I knew we were out in the hallway and I was bending over waiting for my dreams to come true. It was just one lick but it was truly impressive. This man had talent! Even after a single lick my butt was burning for a long time afterward. But that lick did no more than wet my appetite. My ambition was to take a full twelve licks from him, but I have to confess I chickened out. I made it up to 8, but that was as much as I could take. I was in tears and my butt had bruises for a couple of weeks after the eight licks. (The worst bruising disappeared after a few days.) I still remember how uncomfortable sitting down was afterwards.

A couple of other boys were more courageous (or even stupider than me) and ended up talking twelve licks from him. I had to content myself with sitting in the classroom and listening as their bottoms were set on fire. Mr. Jenkins took his time when he paddled a kid so that twelve licks seemed to last forever, even for those of us sitting in the classroom and listening. I can't imagine what it felt like for the boys involved. One of them turned out not to be as brave as he thought and could be heard begging and pleading after about the sixth lick, but he ended up taking all twelve. Not that he had much choice. If a boy refused to take a paddling from a teacher, he would be sent to the vice-principal's office, and it would end up being a lot worse for him. Both of the "twelvers" came back to class with tears streaming down their faces, looking more like first graders than eighth graders.

I still dream about Mr. Jenkins' paddle and would love to get in touch with him. I think I could take the full twelve licks now. I think.